Sacred Sword Online
by C.B James
Summary: In a world where "Beast men" and humans exist together, a VRMMO known as SSO launches and 15,000 players are trapped inside. The only way out? Beat the game's 200 worlds. Without letting your HP drop to zero. Reviews encouraged!
1. Chapter 1

The year is 2026. 3 years after the invention of the full dive system, and sentients have created the very first virtual world of its kind. A full open world. The beta version of the game lasted over a year, pulling players of all kinds of backgrounds into its embrace, all species of sentient beings.

Today, the game officially launches worldwide…

"This is MMO network, bringing you all day coverage of the hit Beta game, Sacred Sword Online, otherwise known as SSO, on the day of its full release!" A young woman exclaimed, "Max, you were a Beta tester! What are your hopes for the new players?"

A young cat man in glasses said, "Well, I hope that they enjoy the game of course! During the Beta, the complexity of the world amazed me. The NPC AI is astonishing, almost like they were real people. You can get into really intimate conversations with them, even if they are non player characters." The camera man showed the long line of future players, ranging all sizes and species.

In his room, a 15 year old human boy was watching the stream. He was also a former Beta Tester. He tuned out the stream as he struggled to press the off button on his computer. He picked up the headgear on his desk, labeled Rem Helm, and shakily placed it on his head.

"Link, Start!" He shouted. His vision blacked out, and he felt like he was flying through space. Stars flashed by him until everything went white. A senses check was activated, and then he logged in.

He opened his eyes, and he was in the town square. Other players were appearing everywhere, and some looked like they did not know where to start. He did, though.

He slashed his right hand down, activating the menu. He clicked the item button, and he selected his only weapon, a Gladius. It appeared in a flash of light and he sheathed it quickly. He marveled at the feeling of leather, and the cold smoothness of the metal. He headed towards the place where the first quest giver was.

He had started the quest, and was just about to head inside the bandit's hideout when he heard someone calling out to him.

"Hey! Wait up," the boy turned around, and a muscular rhino man was standing there. "You look like you know where you're going. Did you get the first quest?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?" the boy asked. "I was wondering if you could help me out. Do you mind teaching me the basics of how this game works?" the rhino man asked. "Yeah, I guess I could help you," the boy said. "Thanks. The names Ghorn," the rhino man said. The boy shook his hand, and said, "I'm Kiette. What's the first thing you need help with. You've already accessed the menu, right?"

Ghorn nodded, and said, "Well, I'd like to learn the basics of magic and swords. Also, when in a fight, does using your body as a weapon do damage?" Kiette nodded, saying, "Ok. You mean like punching and kicking by using your body as a weapon, right?" Ghorn nodded.

"Yeah. A lot of players, myself included, used a combination of sword and fist. It makes for a good combination in this game, except with mace users," Kiette explained. "Why is it not so good with mace users?" Ghorn asked, and Kiette explained, "Well, a mace has a large knockback onto the enemy. It makes it harder to hit them when they fly too far from your reach."

"Any way, do you know how to equip your items?"

Ghorn nodded, and used the menu to equip a large, slightly curved, one handed sword.

Later, after they had entered the dungeon, they were fighting the boss together. Ghorn had learned how to use his sword and even how to use magic almost immediately. "How come there is no magic language system in this game?" Ghorn asked. Kiette said, "The system is designed to be open, so it does not use a language. Instead, it uses your intention and focus to control how the spell works."

They had beat the boss, and now where outside. The sun was setting, and Ghorn said, "Wow, they really went all out. The graphics are impeccable, and the attention to detail is staggering."

Ghorn had equipped the leather armor that the bandit boss had dropped.

"Any way, I'm famished. Too bad eating here can't feed you in the real world. I need to log out." Ghorn said, "Oh, but before I go, I have a couple of friends who I logged in with. Maybe later I should introduce you to them." Kiette agreed, and Ghorn slashed his hand and opened the menu and clicked options.

"Where'd the logout button go?" He said. Kiette frowned, "It should be the last thing on the options." Kiette opened the menu, and gasped. "Well, it's not just you. I don't have it either. Did you call the Game master?" Ghorn nodded, and said, "He ain't picking up. This could be bad. If people are unable to log out, what is going to happen to us in the real world? Don't you think we should be worried, Kiette?"

Kiette shook his head, and said, "No, the head gear automatically sends a signal to our body to exercise our bodies every fifteen minutes. It also allows an outside source to feed us. I'm more worried that the server people don't have any idea of what's going on right now."

They heard a loud whistling sound, it repeated about three times. They were engulfed in a bright white light, and suddenly found themselves in the plaza. People where teleporting and some where terrified.

"Someone forced a teleport." Kiette said. The plaza was almost completely full. There was a scream, and several people pointed to a mass of shadow collecting above the plaza.

"What the hell is that?" Whispered Ghorn. Kiette saw a man inside the darkness. He knew immediately who it was. "That's the game master, and the creator, Mario Diesmali."

"Then you think he knows what's going on?" Ghorn asked. "I have no doubt about it. I bet he is going to tell us right now." Kiette said.

"My name is Mario Diesmali, and welcome to my world." Mario said. "I have no doubt that many of you have noticed an item missing from the menu bar," he accessed the menu and clicked options, showing the missing log out button. "I assure you, this is not a bug. It is how SSO was meant to be. You can not log out of Sacred Sword Online, and no one in the real world may attempt to do so. Should they try, the REM Helm will send a signal to the nanobots in your brain, absorbing your mind and sending your consciousness to one of my lab's computer database. Your nanobot's will no longer send any signals to your muscles, and you will no longer be able to eat. Your bodies will waste away until they die. The same shall happen if your HP falls to zero." several people cried out in protest, "The only way to be revived is through extremely rare revival items. When revived, your nanobots will reactivate, rebooting life support."

"I have given you a gift in your inventory. I suggest you use it," he finished. He disappeared into nothingness.

People opened their menu, and equipped the item. It was a obsidian mirror. Suddenly their bodies transformed into what was obviously their real world appearance.

Kiette looked over to Ghorn. He had nearly doubled in size, and he had orangish hair and a beard.

"Kiette, is that you?" Ghorn asked. Kiette looked at himself in the mirror, and saw his own pale face. He was rather thin, but not hideously thin. He had to mentally hold back tears, angry that he had been forced back into a body that had caused him so much loneliness.

"Yeah, this is me," He sighed. People were starting to panic. There was only one way to escape: Beat the game and its two hundred worlds. The Beta's had only gotten through 20.


	2. Chapter 2

The plaza was silent for about an entire minute, as people took in the gravity of the situation. Death in game meant that they would not revive at the Cathedral. It meant that their minds would belong to Mario Diesmali. And their bodies in the real world would slowly deteriorate until they died. Undoubtedly, the things they would go through would be horrible in whatever database they would be sent to.

"What the hell- The betas played for a year and they only made it to floor 20!" A voice complained, breaking the silence. The square descended into panic, people crying and screaming. Some just stood there, not knowing what they should do or where they should hide. People were terrified.

Kiette grabbed Ghorn by the arm, running with him out of the square. "We have to get out of the city, fast," He said, "Or else we will be caught in the rush." He went on, but Ghorn shook his head.

"My friends are still back there… and I shouldn't leave them there…" he said, "And anyway, I couldn't ask someone I just met to give up their life for them. You go on ahead, we can party up some other time."

He left, and Kiette ran all the way out of the city of beginnings. He fought the lowest level monsters on the way, determined to stay alive.

About a week had passed since he left the city. He had a room at the local inn, where he sat on the bed, sulking. He heard a knock on the door, and opened it and came face to face with an NPC he knew during the Beta.

"Wait, you mean you actually remember me?" he said after the NPC, Seret, explained why he was visiting. "Of course! Hey, just because I'm not real does not mean I don't have memories!" Seret complained, annoyed, "Any way, sorry to intrude. But I had to come tell you something." His expression turned deadly serious.

"Gihramin will still have his memories of you," he said. Kiette gasped, "Wait, you mean he will remember me even though he is a monster?!" He was surprised. Gihramin was one of Kiette's tamed monsters in the Beta, and he had been extremely loyal. The two had been a great team. Seret nodded, and told Kiette, "You should take the quest immediately. He will undoubtedly remember you. Why wouldn't he, if I do?" Kiette nodded, now overwhelmed with excitement.

"I can give the quest, if you want," Seret talk him. Kiette nodded slowly, and his quest's where updated.

The next day, he was ready to fight the mob of Dragonets. Dragonets were Dragon hatchlings that had been trapped on the first floor. Their leader would change every time the quest was completed, and the one that Kiette was after would undoubtedly be the first one.

He prepared his equipment, and entered the dungeon. The cave was a cold, damp place. But it was also dark enough to hold a whole other system of caves, large enough to fit a small town inside. Kiette cast a light spell, and lit up the entire dungeon. Suddenly, a bunch of small Dragonets flew out of one of the cave's holes. They spat flames at him, but he deflected them with his sword. He jumped up, slicing one of their wings and kicking it into the other one, damaging both of their HP. They started to tumble to the floor, and he cast a bunch of lightning bolts, striking them and destroying them. They shattered, and he got some young dragon scales and 200 gold.

He kept on going. The caves where winding and treacherous, but he knew where he was going. He had taken this quest before, anyway. Ahead, he saw a bunch more Dragonets. He quickly defeated them, and head towards the dungeon boss's lair.

He saw what he immediately knew to be Gihramin. Gihramin was dark black, and he was quite larger than the other Dragonets. He was about the size of a large German Shepard, and he had a very large wingspan. Kiette prepared his weapons and magic, ready to fight him.

"Gihramin, remember me? I'm Kiette." Kiette started, "And where gonna be partners again, just like we used to be."

He charged, and Gihramin flew upwards towards the ceiling. Kiette shot ice needles at him, but he dodged and breathed a strong stream of fire. Kiette created a shield of water around himself, and then used the water to propel him upwards towards Gihramin, and he slashed at his wing. Gihramin nimbly dodged it, and swiped at him with his sharp tail blade, causing considerable damage to Kiette's HP.

Kiette used his sword to block several claw swipes when they landed, and then slashed at Gihramin with his sword. He hit Gihramin in the shoulder, damaging his HP. Gihramin blasted fire at Kiette, who blocked it with ice, and then shattered the ice into small needles which he shot like a machine gun at Gihramin. Their fight kept going, each of them doing near equal damage to each other.

Both of their HP had dropped to around ten percent. It was only a matter of one strike that could decide the fate of the battle. Gihramin struck first, but Kiette blocked the attack, and then moved to the side, slashing Gihramin on his shoulder. Gihramin's HP fell to zero, and he shattered into thousands of infinitesimal shards of light.

It was not long for Gihramin to make his decision. He remembered Kiette after getting destroyed, and he remembered the time during the Beta. He knew his choice. His broken, shattered pieces started to recollect, forming a pitch black stone.

Kiette picked up the stone, and looked at its item name. It was labelled, _The Dragon Stone_. He knew how to use it. Kiette focused his magic energy through the stone, and it started to glow. It transformed into Gihramin.

"Kiette, I would have killed you! Why did you come for me?" Gihramin asked, his voice a little bit too deep for the size that he was. "Oh, you silly little reptile, you know why!" Kiette answered, smiling. "I can't beat this world without one of my best friends, now can I?"

They embraced each other, Gihramin with his wings and Kiette in a hug, and they did not leave the dungeon until the next morning.


End file.
